Bdwaed weston



(No Model.)

B. WESTON.

HOLDER FOR INGANDESUENT LAMPS.

w No.- 348,647.

Jim

Patented Sept. 7, 1886.

frwenforr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDIVARD IVESTON, OF NEVARK, N E\V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED STATES ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY, OF' NEW YORK, N. Y.

HOLDER FOR INCANDESCENT LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 348,647, dated September 7, 1886.

Application filed January 18, 1886. Serial No. 188,842. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EI)\VARD WEsToN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and'a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Incandescent Lamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying. and forming a [0 part of the same.

Thevarious manufacturers of incandescent lamps and fittings follow no general standardof size and plan of construction of the lamps or holders, each having their own special form of lamp, socket, and holder. In order to substitute the lamps of one manufacturer for those of another, therefore,it is necessary, under the present conditions, to remove the sockets or holders and put others in their places. The holders being permanent, while the lamps require renewing at intervals, 1611- ders it necessary for users of lamps to obtain their supplies of new lamps from the makers of the holders. This and many other reasons,

not necessary here to state, make it very de sirable to have some ready and cheap means for fitting any kind of lamp to any kind of holder, and to accomplish thisis the object of my present invention.

It will be understood that it is, commercially at least, impracticable for any manufacturer of lamps to make or to keep in stock different lamps adapted to fit directly the many forms of holder now in use. As commonly made at present, each lamp is provided with some particular form of base that has upon it the.lampterminals. The sockets are made to receive this base, and the insertion of the lamp in its socket completes the electrical 4o connection between the two; but it rarely happens that the base of alamp made by one manufacturer fits the sockets made by another. In order to remedy this and adapt one style of lamp to be used with another style of hold- 5 er than that for which it was originally designed, I make an intermediate deviee,which may be designated a coupler or adapter. 7 These couplers or adapters are made so as to receive the base of a given lamp and to fit into a given holder or socket,and to complete the circuit-connections from the lamp to the holder. These devices are mechanically simple and easily made, and their use avoids the difficulty and expense heretofore incident to a change of lamps.

To illustrate the general nature and purpose of the invention, I have selected some forms of lamp and holder which are in the market, and of which the construction is generally well known.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation ofawell-known form of lamp-base. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of a coupler or adapter to be used in fitting this lamp into a socket such as shown in vertical central section in Fig. Fig. 4 is a lamp-base of different pattern; Fig. 5, a coupler for fitting it to the holder shown in Fig. 6 in part section. Fig. 7 is the same as Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a coupler for fitting this base to the socket or holder which is shown in Fig. 9 in part section.

The lamp-base in Fig. l is a cylinder of metal, A, secured to the glass and closed at the bottom by an insulating'plug, that carries two contacts, a b. The holder with which this base is adapted for use is shown in Fig. 6, and consists of a metal shell, 13, with afianged rim, in which are cut notches c c. vThe lower part of the holder contains a switch and two terminals, C D, that are spring-plates, the up per one in the form of aring. The base is introduced into this holder until the pins 6 e in its sides pass down through the notches 00. The lamp is then turned so that the pins come under the flange or bead f, by which means the lamp is held securely in place, owing to the upward pressure of the springs G D, that make contact with the terminals a I).

Fig. 3 shows a well-known form of holder, which is entirely unsuited to this form of lamp. In this holder there is an insulated shell, E, which is screw-threaded and constitutes one of the terminals, while there is a spring, F, that is shifted by the switch, that constitutes the other.

The lampbase adapted for this holder (shown in Fig.4) has a screw-threaded shell,G, applied to the end of the globe or neck, and connected with one of the wires of the lamp and at the bottom it carries a contact,'I-I, 0011- 100 nected with the other wire, so that this lamp is equally unfitted for use with the holder shown in Fig. 6.

To fit the base shown in Fig. 1 to that in Fig. 3, the coupler or adapter, Fig.2, is made. This consists of a shell, K, of metal, with a notched or flanged rim similar to the upper part of the holder, Fig. 6. Its' lower end is closed by an insulating-plug, L, carrying a screw-threaded shell, M, at the bottom of which is an insulated contact, 9. Springs C D are inserted in the coupler in *position to meet the contacts a b, and one is attached to the shell K, the other to contact 1. The coupler fits both holder and lampbase, so that the connection between the two latter is easily and readily made.

To lit the lamp-base in Fig. 4 to the holder in Fig. 6, the coupler shown in Fig. 5 is employed. This consists of a shell of metal, N, with two pins, 0 c, on its exterior. It contains an insulated screw-threaded shell, 0, which is adapted to receive the shell G, and which is connected electrically to one of the two contacts m, carried by a wooden plug that is inserted into the end of the shell N. 7 The other contact is connected with a metal stop, 0, in the center of shell N and insulated from it. This coupler is made to fitthc holder or socket shown in Fig. 6.

Another example is shown in Figs. 7 to 9. In this case the form of lamp-base is the same as that in Fig. 1. The holder, however, is a socket which differs from that shown in Fig. Gin having two springs, T, that are forced apart by'a spindle, S, to make contact with the lamp-terminals when the latter is placed in the holder. The coupler for this holder is a tube, \V, flanged and notched for receiving the base A, and having an insulating interior tube, V, secured in its lower end.

The con tact-springs G D are secured to opposite sides of the insulating tube in positions to be encountered by the springs T, and the tube \Vis made to it into the holder, and be secured therein by pins 0 on the sides of the coupler and notches p in the edge of the holder. These couplers, it will now be seen, vary considerably in mechanical construction, accord ing to the particular style of lamp and holder with which they are used. In all, however, the functions and principle of construction are the same.

sVhat I claim is 1. The combination, with an incandescent lamp and a socket or holder of different form or make, and thereby unsuited for direct connection, of an intermediate device or coupler constructed to fit both the lamp and the socket, whereby they may be operatively connected, as herein set forth.

2. The combination, with an incandescent lamp and a socket or holder of different form or make, and thereby unsuited for direct connection, of a coupler containing conductors and contacts and constructed to fit both the lamp and the socket, and thereby connect the same mechanically and complete the electric circuit from the lamp to the holder, as herein set forth.

The combination, with an incandescent lamp and a socket or holder of different form or make, and thereby unsuited for direct connection, of an intermediate device or coupler separable from both the holder and the lamp and constructed to fit both lamp and holder, whereby they may be operatively connected and disconnected, as herein set forth.

' EDVJARD \VESTON.

i tn esses:

HENRY A. BEOKMEYER, RICHARD W'M. BLOEMEKE. 

